Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to be in Washington on Friday as part of US President Joe Biden's push for greater economic integration across the Western Hemisphere.U.S. Ambassador David Cohen says Trudeau will be part of meetings in to help shape the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, a Biden-backed trade framework.The project aims to create more jobs and restore faith in democracy by having roughly a dozen countries bolster the region's economic competitiveness.Biden announced the program at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June 2022.Cohen says Canada shares

The Punjab government has extended an open invitation to all the people of the state for an open debate between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and all other political parties to be held in Ludhiana on November 1.CM Mann has named this debate 'Main Punjab Bolda Haan'.For security reasons, the police have also tightened restrictions on programs held in the university hall.Dr. Manmohan Singh Auditorium of Punjab Agriculture University has been booked by Punjab Government for this debate.The seating capacity of this auditorium is around 1000 but due to CM Mann's open invitation to 3 crore people of

Immigration Minister Marc Miller is laying out the federal government's priorities for improving Canada's immigration system today with a newly released report.The federal government's report outlines key actions intended to strengthen the immigration system, based on consultations with stakeholders.It says Ottawa plans to take housing, health care, infrastructure and other services into account when planning immigration levels.The report proposes creating a chief international talent officer position to better align immigration programs and pathways with the labour market.It says the federal

The City of Surrey is looking for businesses that are willing to lease their industrial land and then use the land as a truck parking facility.At yesterday's Surrey City Council meeting, council voted on a request proposal for a potential parking operator.Mayor Brenda Locke said on this occasion that the problem of large truck parking in Surrey is almost a decade old.Due to lack of facilities for truck parking, they are parked on roads.Now the city staff has been urged to find such places which can be used for truck parking.The Mayor says that a large number of trucks are based in Surrey and t

British Columbia has plans to make Holocaust education mandatory for high school students with additions to Grade 10 curriculum coming in 2025.Eby made the announcement at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on Monday.Premier David Eby says it's been a "frightening time" for the Jewish community after deadly terrorists attacks by Hamas militants in Israel earlier this month.He says there has been a rise in antisemitism in B.C., and combatting hate starts with learning from the past so the same horrors are never repeated.The changes will take effect in the 2025-2026 school year to

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says fiscal and monetary policy are rowing in opposite directions, making it harder to bring inflation down.Macklem is appearing before MPs on the House of Commons finance committee after the Bank of Canada's recent rate decision and quarterly economic projections.In response to questioning from Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan, the governor says government spending is working at cross purposes with the central bank's efforts to bring inflation down.The governor says that according to federal and provincial budgets, government spending aggregate will gro

A group of more than 30 British Columbia retailers, trade associations and other organizations is calling for a co-ordinated government response for repeat offenders they say are behind a wave of theft, vandalism and violent crime.The Save Our Streets coalition says the need for immediate action is "critical" to meet threats to staff safety, rising security costs and the community impact.The group says federal and provincial governments can't succeed by addressing "singular aspects" of the problem, such as drug decriminalization, policing resources or mental-health reform.Members of the group

Protesters are marching in downtown Montreal to condemn the Quebec government's plan to double university tuition for students from other provinces.Protest organizer Alex O'Neill, who grew up in Montreal and studies at McGill University, says out-of-province students can't afford to pay the $17,000 the government wants to charge them next year.Many participants at the protest, which stretched the length of two city blocks, wore purple, the colour of Bishop's University, in Sherbrooke, Que., the province's only English-language university outside Montreal.Sophia Stacey, president of the univers

The federal government is expanding its drug and substance use strategy to try to save more lives and provide more services to people disproportionately affected by Canada's overdose crisis.The Public Health Agency of Canada says the drug landscape has changed with an increasingly toxic supply since the strategy was first developed in 2016.It also says the COVID-19 pandemic revealed gaps in the government's approach and the need for a more holistic, integrated response.The strategy's priorities include funding more community-based programs for prevention, treatment and support.It also includes